SECTION 1.  (a)  Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws, or any other special or general laws to the contrary, the commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of the department of fish and game through its division of marine fisheries, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is hereby authorized to lease for a term of fifteen (15) years to the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc., the parcel of land with the buildings thereon, known as the John T. Hughes Hatchery and Research Station, currently under the care and control of the department’s division of marine fisheries and situated on the easterly shore of Lagoon Pond at the mouth of Brush Pond in the Town of Oak Bluffs, Dukes County. The property is described in the deed recorded at Book 209, Page 404 in the Dukes County Registry of Deeds and shown on a plan entitled “Proposed Lobster Hatchery, Surveyed for the Town of Oak Bluffs, Mass. Scale 1 in – 120 Ft., Dec. 16, 1941, Swift and Learned, Inc., Vineyard Haven, Mass.,” on file in the office of the Town Clerk at Oak Bluffs, Mass.

(b)  The consideration for such lease is the agreement by the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. to continue to use of the property and buildings thereon for the conduct of shellfish propagation and other fishery resource research and management activities.

(c) The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. shall assume all costs associated with the operation, maintenance and repair of the property and buildings thereon, and subject to such additional terms and conditions consistent with this act as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may prescribe in consultation with the commissioner of the department of fish and game during the course of any such lease.

(d) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. shall be responsible for all costs and expenses including, but not limited to, costs associated with any engineering, surveys, appraisals and deed preparation related to the lease authorized in this act as those costs may be determined by the commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance.

SECTION 2.  This Act shall take effect upon its passage.